The Mykolaiv City Council awarded a 135-million tender to one of its own companies

The Mykolaiv City Council’s Department of Education conducted a procurement process to select a company to provide food services at the city’s general secondary schools.

According to the Center for Public Investigations, the relevant information was published on the Prozorro e-procurement system.

The procurement was conducted as an open tender with specific conditions, and the sole participant was the Municipal Production Enterprise for Catering Services in Mykolaiv’s Educational Institutions. 

According to the YouControl analytical system, the enterprise was registered back in 2000, and its authorized capital amounted to over 581,000 hryvnias. The enterprise was founded by the Mykolaiv City Council.

The company is expected to provide meals for students at 55 educational institutions by December 31, 2026, and will receive 135 million 547,600 hryvnias for this service. 

In March 2026, the Mykolaiv Municipal Production Enterprise for the Organization of School Meals found itself at the center of a corruption scandal because its director failed to ensure proper control over the quality and safety of food ingredients and products. Specifically, no records were kept, accompanying documents were not checked, and expiration dates were not monitored—which effectively meant there was no incoming inspection of products supplied to the institutions. Investigators concluded that the director, by abusing his official position, created conditions for the embezzlement of budget funds, specifically by fabricating legal grounds for the transfer of funds for services that were not properly rendered.

In January,tendersfor food services for kindergartens took place without competition. The only participant was the Mykolaiv Municipal Production Enterprise for the Organization of Food Services in Educational Institutions (KOP). KOP has repeatedly been the subject of journalistic investigations and criminal proceedings.

Кирило Бойко